


Terrible chips and a beautiful smile

by xam22



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Real World, M/M, Mention Of Luke, Mention of Clary - Freeform, i hc Jace as trans but it's not mentioned here, mention of Magnus, mix of tv and book, mostly tv, pretty OOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:00:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25489639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xam22/pseuds/xam22
Summary: Simon's at a bar in the middle of nowhere when he spots Jace, who's had a bit to drink. As he helps Jace get home, they get a little closer.
Relationships: Simon Lewis/Jace Wayland
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	Terrible chips and a beautiful smile

**Author's Note:**

> Not to immediately trash talk my own work, but:  
> 1\. This is pretty much the first time I've ever written fan fiction.  
> 2\. English is not my first language.  
> That being said, I'm pretty happy with what I've written, and I hope you like it!  
> Also it was inspired by a Tumblr post that I saw on Instagram that I can't find anymore, whoops.

He was almost out of the door when out of the corner of his eye he saw a head of blonde hair being thrown backwards. It took him a second to realise who it belonged to. He was so far away from home. While debating whether to say hi or just leave, the hair flew back again, but this time, as did the rest. Looking at him upside down from the floor, he was met with a familiar smirk.  
“Jesus Christ Jace, are you alright?” Simon asked as he helped Jace back up, onto the chair. Jace as usual brushed off the question as he brushed off his trademark leather jacket. The men around the table were laughing but Jace cut them off.  
“Yeah, yeah very funny. Let’s keep this thing going shall we?”, he said and threw back a shot. The rickety chair he was sitting on swayed with him.  
“You’re free to leave Simon”, Jace said while keeping his eyes on the man on the other side of the table, his competitor. Simon turned to the door and was about to take his first step away when Jace spat out another comment:  
“I can handle myself you know”. Simon turned back, feeling more and more irritated by the second.  
“Yeah I’m sure you can”, he spat back but as his eyes swept over the table and the shots lined up in front of Jace, he stopped. “But I don’t think you’ll be able to after all of those”. Grabbing Jace by the arm he left the men laughing at the table. Too surprised to fight back, Jace was out the door before he knew what was happening. He started yelling at Simon, who kept walking towards his van in complete silence. When they were in front of the van Simon let go and turned to Jace with an unreadable expression. Suddenly Jace was all out of words. Standing without Simon’s support he realised his legs were not quite as steady as he had thought. He fell towards the van but before he could put out his arms to catch himself he was caught in Simon’s arms.  
“I...I’m sorry I yelled. I guess you were right”, Jace managed to say despite his pride. Simon’s eyes had been scrutinizing Jace since he arrived, but at these words they softened. For a moment that felt much longer than it really was, they simply stood there. Jace in Simon’s arms. Looking into each other’s eyes. A car pulled out of the parking lot. The driver honked at them and yelled “Hey f******”. Immediately, Jace jerked back, slamming into the van. Simon opened his mouth to ask him if he was okay, but the look on Jace’s face made it clear that he didn’t want to talk right now. Simon sighed and fished the car keys out of his pocket.  
“Come on man, I’ll take you home”.

In silence, they got into the van and pulled out from the parking lot onto the highway. The silence made Simon feel uncomfortable and he kept trying to start a conversation about something, anything. He never got further than looking towards Jace and thinking how his thoughts seemed far away. But then suddenly:  
“So...what were you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?”.  
“Oh, well I went to Luke’s farm with Clary, but then she wanted to stay and I had to go back home for this thing tonight so I left right and then I needed to go to the bathroom and I was so thirsty so I found the bar…”, Simon felt so relieved that they were finally talking that he rambled on until he remembered something. “Wait, why were _you_ there?”. Jace mumbled a response that Simon didn’t hear, but he could sense that asking again would be a bad idea. 

They fell back into silence. Simon stopped trying to start a conversation and kept his eyes on the road. While making a right turn he glanced over at Jace and saw that he had gone a sickly pale shade. Simon pulled over as soon as he could and turned towards Jace who was already getting out of the van. Before he had gotten around the hood, he could hear Jace retching. He put his hand on Jace’s back. Beneath the leather jacket, the muscles tensed up at first but Jace seemed too tired to argue and let Simon keep his hand there until he was done. Jace leaned against a telephone pole while Simon opened the van’s side door. Simon walked back to Jace and pulled him to the van, letting him sit down in the back. He wiped Jace’s face with a paper towel and led him back to the passenger seat.  
“Here’s a bucket so we don’t have to stop again”, Simon said and placed it between Jace’s feet. “And I have blankets back there if you want one”. When Simon opened the door to the driver’s seat he was met with a sight he had seldom seen. Jace was giggling. And his trademark smirk was replaced with something that could almost be called a smile. Before he could ask what was so funny, his question was answered.  
“You have so many things back there, is there anything you don’t have?, Jace said, more to himself than to Simon. “I feel like you probably have like a whole bed back there”. Simon tried to answer that he did in fact have a mattress in the van but was cut off by Jace giggling. Rolling his eyes, but smiling still, Simon started the van and they went back out onto the highway. The silence was more comfortable this time. And it wasn’t total. Every now and again it was broken by Jace’s giggles.  
“Hey Simon, you wouldn’t happen to have some food back there, I’m starving”, Jace asked. The idea of Simon having food in his van seemed amusing to him and he giggled a little bit louder.  
“You just threw up and now you’re hungry? How is that possible?”  
“Don’t criticize me, do you have it or not?”. Jace pointed an unsteady finger at Simon in mock anger.  
“No, but I can stop at the next gas station”  
“Sounds great, man”, said Jace sleepily. The words had no sooner left his lips than he was fast asleep.

Simon kept driving. The scenery seemed to never change. Just open fields with the occasional cluster of trees. They came to the top of a hill and in the distance a small gas station appeared. Simon was about to nudge Jace and tell him but at that moment Jace’s head rolled over to the left, resting on Simon’s shoulder. He could smell the alcohol on Jace’s breath and a faint odour of sweat. It should smell awful but somehow he liked it. The bad smells mixed with the smell of Jace’s shampoo and soap, and he could feel his soft hair against the underside of his chin. A warm feeling appeared in his stomach. It felt amazing but at the same time it made Simon nervous. Because he knew what it meant. He knew that it meant he was developing feelings for Jace. _Jace_. _Why_ did it have to be _Jace_? Sometimes Simon wasn’t even sure Jace experienced emotions. Jace was the least open person he knew. No one knew what he felt or thought. At best he was a closed book, at worst rude and insensitive. Simon had been on the receiving end of that before. But still, here he was. The moment Jace showed a different side, he fell for him. He’d been discreetly checking him out since they met, not expecting it to go anywhere. But if there was a kind and caring person somewhere under that leather jacket, Simon wanted to find it.

They rolled up to the gas station and parked outside. Simon gently nudged Jace’s head off his shoulder and got out of the van. This gas station had seen better days. Lamps were flickering on and off, and Simon struggled to find any brands he recognised. At the register, the cashier was scrolling on his phone with music leaking out of his headphones. When Simon got back to the van, he woke Jace up and showed him what he had bought.  
“We really are in the middle of nowhere man, the only possibly edible thing I could find were these chips that aren’t even spelled right, who has ever heard of “Tjipz” before?, Simon said and handed the bag to Jace who ripped it open immediately. The smell that followed was hard to describe. “But somehow they still had coke.” Simon opened the bottle and took a sip before Jace grabbed it from him and downed half of it. While Jace continued to eat and drink Simon started the van and drove back out onto the highway. With his face beaming like he’d received the greatest gift of his life, Jace turned to Simon and said:  
“Thanks Si, I really appreciate this”. Then he smiled. _Really_ smiled. It was the first time Simon had seen Jace smile with his teeth, and to him, Jace’s smile shined like the sun. The warm feeling in Simon’s stomach intensified.  
“Since when do you call me Si?”, Simon asked, but Jace just smiled with his mouth full of “Tjipz” and looked out of the window on the passenger side. Once he had finished eating, and drunk the last few drops of coke, Jace fell back asleep, his head on Simon’s shoulder. 

When they had finally reached New York, the sun was just starting to appear on the horizon. Simon parked the van outside his apartment before he realised he should take Jace home. And the he realised he didn’t know where Jace lived. They just weren’t that close, Simon thought with a sting of sadness. He woke Jace up and half carried him up into his apartment. While Jace fell asleep again, now in Simon’s bed, Simon called Alec, who answered immediately, sounding very stressed.  
“Yeah listen Lewis, this is not a good time, Jace is practically missing at this point, and-”  
“That’s actually what I’m calling about, he’s in my bed, I mean my apartment, he’s in my apartment”. On the other end, he could hear Alec sigh with relief, and talk to other in people in the background.  
“Text me the address, I’ll come pick him up after I’ve slept a few hours”. And with that he hung up. Simon could see where Jace had gotten his good manners from. He sat down on the couch and suddenly felt exhausted. Within minutes he was sleeping.

When he woke up, the sun was shining in his eyes, and the apartment was silent. At first. As he lied on the couch, slowly waking up, through his thin walls he could hear Jace moving around in his bed. Then silence, followed by a softly whispered “What the fuck? Where am I?”. Seconds later, Jace burst out of Simon’s bedroom door, panic on his face. Their eyes met, and Jace let out a sigh of relief.  
“Oh, wait this is your apartment, I’ve been here before”, Jace said and seemed embarrassed. “For a second there I didn’t know where I was, and you know I was pretty drunk last night so-”  
“Yeah, I took you home. Here, I mean. I took you here”, Simon cut Jace off. He was annoyed. The moment they had shared was gone, for the same reason it had happened, Jace had been drunk. “Alec said he’d pick you up, I don’t know when, but I gotta go soon, my band’s playing tonight”.  
“You’re in a band?”, Jace asked. He seemed impressed.  
“That’s why I have these posters”, Simon said and pointed to the walls.  
“Woah, I thought that was some famous band I’d never heard of. But it’s yours!” The warm feeling grew. “Can I come?” Jace asked with a shyness and tenderness Simon hadn’t seen before. The question seemed to fill the room with an invisible tension.  
“To my show? Yes, of course, absolutely”. Simon smiled and Jace looked like he wanted to return it but had forgotten how. At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Alec.  
“I’ll just go home and shower first, text me the details, yeah?”. Jace walked towards the door, but stopped halfway. He turned to Simon, hesitantly. “And thank you, for last night, you’re a pretty good friend”. Simon felt butterflies. With his hand on the door handle, Jace whispered “Thanks Si”, winked at Simon with his usual smirk and walked out of the door. Alec hugged him and whispered some inaudible but angry words in his ear. Jace kept walking and Alec tossed him his car keys.

Simon stood in the doorway, ready to close the door, when Alec spoke.  
“So, I just wanted to say thank you for taking him home last night”. Alec rubbed his neck with his hand. He didn’t seem like he wanted to say what he was saying. “And I’m sorry that I was rude to you, I was tired but still”. Under his breath he muttered “Magnus makes me a better person but god is it annoying”. Alec rolled his eyes, but at the same time, he couldn’t contain his smile. After Alec had left, Simon went to the bathroom and took a shower. When he got out he began walking around the apartment, collecting everything he would need for the show. The show. He had to text Jace. A text that should take seconds to write took minutes. Should he say hi first? What emojis were appropriate? His brain kept going on and on. Finally he felt satisfied and hit send.  
_7 pm. Hunter’s Moon. See you there. :)_  
With his backpack on and guitar case in hand, Simon stood by the door and looked around the apartment, making sure he had everything with him. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he picked it up.  
_I’ll be there. :)_  
Simon walked out of his apartment, a smile on his face and a bounce in his step. All because of those three words. And because of the night that had made them happen. A night with terrible chips and a beautiful smile.

**Author's Note:**

> So in my mind this is part of a bigger story, which is why their relationship doesn't really go anywhere in this story. I want to write that story, but since I don't have a lot of experience writing, and I'm also starting university in a few weeks, I don't know if I will.  
> In that story, Jace is trans, which is just a headcanon that I like, and is struggling with being open about that and his emotions. So it starts out pretty sad but through his friendship and later relationship with Simon he gets the support and advice he needs to change his life.


End file.
